Happy Holidays

Hurray, we are back from our hols - not hurray we are back, but hurray it was a good holiday.  I feel revitalised and less stressed.  I knew I was stressed but not quite how - it took a couple of days for me to chill.  We went on a YMCA Family holiday to ease us in to the camping habits common with Americans.  Like every thing they do things with maximum effort, so camping stores have all manner of different camping gadgets, and stuff for white water rafting, snow shoes, mountaineering... So we stayed in a (very dusty) cabin, which suited us as it gave us the room to keep our stuff and not forever bumping into each other.  The location was beautiful, right on a lake edge completely surrounded by sugar pines and sequoia trees, and it was a private location, so apart from stray hikers and people from other Y camps about the lake (like Skate board camp!) we had the place to ourselves.

 I had forgotten what quiet was like.  There was no tv, phones and apart from the odd bit of ipod watching to placate over tired toddlers we were electronic free.  In the mornings there was a kids camp, which was fantastic, and allowed me to indulge in a bit of crafty stuff in the craft shed - I made a stained glass dangly heart, started a mosiac (which my 7 year old finished), made a few hemp bracelets and did a bit of tie tye!  So good for the soul. Other activities included archery, fishing, which is surprisingly enjoyable, swimming in the lake (I swam across it twice!), hiking, boating, or just nothing.  I got a whole book read.....  So it has made me realise, I really do need to get some help looking after the children, I was so stressed before I went, I never got away from teh children and spent all my time waiting to collect them or drop them off, I did nothing that fed my soul.  So, I have come back and am not tired all day like I was before.  I will try and keep up the swimming and keep the telly off at night, do more craft and check out eating wheat grass (they sell it in Nob Hills)....  Lets just see shall we!